France Seek to Adopt UIGEA-Style Decree

Tuesday, 4 March 2008

France is looking to become the latest European country to
introduce UIGEA-style legislation, reports announced yesterday. The
move, which has already been blocked by the European Union, would
have obliged French financial institutions to block payme

France is looking to become the latest European country to
introduce UIGEA-style legislation, reports announced yesterday. The
move, which has already been blocked by the European Union, would
have obliged French financial institutions to block payments from
gaming companies black-lasted by the French authorities.
The move from the EU was swift, issuing a ‘detailed opinion’
which prevents the French government from implementing the decree
before the end of the month. Should the decree be adopted after
31st March, the European Union can then launch infringement
proceedings.
Sigrid Ligné, secretary general of the European Gaming and
Betting Association embraced the move. “Today's action consolidates
the Commission’s position that unjustified payment blocking in our
sector clearly contravenes EU law. We welcome the Commission’s
action and hope that this will send a clear signal to other EU and
EFTA Member States that such proposals will not be tolerated”.
Germany, Norway and Holland are other European countries which
are considering similar controls, but in the opinion of Ligné, the
move is foolhardy. “Such restrictions are difficult to implement,
easy to circumvent, inefficient and foster the growth of an
underground market” said Ligné.

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